Lower School

For ages 14-17

"Our highest endeavour must be to develop free human beings able to impart purpose and direction to their lives"

Rudolf Steiner

In the Upper School we continue to work with the international Waldorf Curriculum with our own uniquely developed body based learning programme.

This exciting curriculum offers what we believe is the most interesting curriculum in the country. The broad range of subjects and the way they are taught give our students opportunities that are just not available in the mainstream.

The GCSE programme is also introduced in the Upper School and runs over three years. Students normally take 4 GCSEs in class 10 and the remainder in class 11. The majority of the students go on to college to do A-levels. GCSE results are available on the Exam Results page.

You can find more information about the Upper School in our Upper School Brochure. You can also read our Upper School Curriculum Statement which can be found here.

We aim for our students to:

Seek the right balance between freedom and responsibility

Find growing self awareness and confidence

Develop independent power of judgement

Have the strength of character to act responsibly from their own insight

Each year a class trip is taken:

Class 9 students visit our sister school in Schloss Hamborn, Germany and work on their school farm

In Class 10 our students may work on a community based project

Class 11, after a major fundraising effort, normally travel abroad as a culmination of their time together at Elmfield

Beyond the specific skills across the curriculum, each subject should be an opportunity to raise wider issues. We believe that such study should not be focused solely on learning or passing exams but should be seen as a means to reflect on the deeper questions that young people have within themselves, and to guide them towards becoming responsible, creative, purposeful citizens.

During the Upper School years, we regularly have pupils join us from abroad which enriches the school community.

This video gives an overview of life in our Upper School (ages 15 to 17). Topics covered include: Morning Modules explained; the aims of the Upper School, pupils sharing their experiences; GCSE's; how our approach is about much more than exams; and an exchange student giving the views of a visiting boarder.